Sunday’s target practice went well. We took our 9mm pistols (my Glock 26 and Damsel’s S&W 908s) and Damsel’s S&W 686 .357 magnum revolver. We also took a couple of our shotguns, the 12 and 20 gauge Remington 870s.

We have been having warm weather this week and Sunday was no exception. The target shooting was fun and all, but the indoor range was a bit too warm. We toughed it out, though, and shot 50 rounds of .38 special, 100 rounds of 9mm and 50 rounds of shot shells.

In the video here, I’m following up on Damsel’s handy work by finishing shooting the target in half and then shooting off the left side (stage right) of the dangling silhouette target. After that series of shots, we exited the range to enjoy the cooler temperatures in the gun shop.

The STEREO project, a constellation of two identical solar probes, one ahead of the Earth (STEREO A) and one behind the Earth (STEREO B), simultaneously imaged a solar prominence from their divergent perspectives. This video was featured on NASA’s SOHO Pick of the Week.

The video below shows the mass ejection in synchronized timing from ahead and behind the Earth.

In the left panel (behind), you can see the event emerging from near the top of the solar disk, while on the right panel (ahead) it is occurring above the solar horizon. In these times when there are few sunspots, the old solar machine is still cranking out the good old nuclear fusion.

Last evening, we paused the DVD player to watch the liftoff of Space Shuttle Discovery. After a couple of aborted countdowns earlier in the week, Discovery, once again, roared into space from the Florida Coast.

Damsel snapped this image with her camera just at the moment of liftoff. Click to enlarge.

From NASA:

With seven astronauts and a host of experiments and equipment on board, space shuttle Discovery completed a flawless ascent into orbit Friday night to begin a two-day chase of the International Space Station. With Commander Rick “C.J. ” Sturckow at the controls, the shuttle lifted off on-time at 11:59 p.m. EDT from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will rendezvous and dock with the station Sunday and the crew will begin transferring equipment to the outpost during the 13-day mission.

These came home with us from the supermarket today. They are sunflowers but with very fluffy petals. Quite pretty. Click image to see the big picture.

Except for the radicals and hard-left voters, people who supported Obama in 2008 are slowly becoming disillusioned with the rookie president’s ineptness and inability to tell the truth, not to mention his attempts to move the nation rapidly toward the left.

From Karl Rove:

Obama Losing Support with Hispanics, Young Voters, But Steady with Liberals: President Obama’s job approval rating has fallen to 52% in the most recent weekly Gallup poll (8/17-8/23), down 15 points from its high in January. Obama’s popularity was still as high as 60% at the end of the first week of July. Since then, his approval rating has dropped sharply with key swing demographic groups, falling 15 points with liberal and moderate Republicans, 14 points with Hispanics, 13 points with voters aged 18-29, 13 points with voters who attend church nearly every week or monthly, and 12 points with voters earning between $60,000 and $90,000 per year (-12).

By comparison, his approval rating has remained fairly steady with liberal Democrats (-1), voters in the west (-1), those with post-graduate educations (-2), self-identified liberals (-3), and those earning between $36,000 and $60,000 per year (-4).

Obama’s victory last fall was largely built upon swing voters, not the Democratic base, so the last two months’ trend should be very troubling for the White House.

It should also be very troubling for the DNCC as they look toward 2010. It was mainly Obama’s popularity in 2008 that helped to sweep so many incumbent Republicans overboard.

In just a few more days, we will be taking off for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno. On the way, we’re planning to stop and take in some of the scenery. Our first stop is going to be Yosemite National Park.

It has been many years since either of us has visited Yosemite. We’re going to stay the night before near the park and will take the scenic drive to some of the highlights before heading to our next destination, probably near Lake Tahoe. Reno will be the next stop after we see some of the Tahoe area attractions. We’re still working out the details.

I captured the picture above just a few minutes ago from the Turtleback Webcam featured on the Yosemite National Park multimedia page. You can click the image to enlarge.

I hope we get lots of these beautiful flowers this year. Last year, we were got the Last Plumeria as late as November.

These were seen on the patio this morning. Click image to enlarge.

There comes a time in our lives when (if we’re lucky) we can hang up our toolbag and start to live the life of leisure. This is my year to put everything in motion to allow me to begin my retirement in just a few weeks. I have pulled all the handles to make things happen - it’s too late for me to stop the train from leaving the station now.

My first Social Security check will be deposited this Thursday.

Now, comes word that the Social Security Administration has suspended Cost Of Living Adjustments (COLA) for the next two years. Oh, by the way, they aren’t going to suspend premium increases for Medicare Part B.

From Yahoo:

Millions of older people face shrinking Social Security checks next year, the first time in a generation that payments would not rise. The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting there won’t be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the next two years. That hasn’t happened since automatic increases were adopted in 1975.

By law, Social Security benefits cannot go down. Nevertheless, monthly payments would drop for millions of people in the Medicare prescription drug program because the premiums, which often are deducted from Social Security payments, are scheduled to go up slightly. …

Advocates say older people still face higher prices because they spend a disproportionate amount of their income on health care, where costs rise faster than inflation. Many also have suffered from declining home values and shrinking stock portfolios just as they are relying on those assets for income.

“For many elderly, they don’t feel that inflation is low because their expenses are still going up,” said David Certner, legislative policy director for AARP. “Anyone who has savings and investments has seen some serious losses.”

Hat Tip - Captain Ed Morrissey.

We went to the range today for some overdue target practice. Afterward, we had our usual cleaning session. I cleaned up my little Para Warthog .45 ACP compact pistol and took this photo of her sparkling in the sunlight.

She cleans up pretty good, I’d say.

I took a lot of pictures last month when we were traveling up California State Route 1. This one, I believe, was taken just south of Big Sur. The scenery along this road is quite spectacular.